A new sparid fish of genus sparidentex (Perciformes: Sparidae) from coastal waters of Pakistan (North Western Indian Ocean)

A new species of seabream,sparidentex jamalensis sp. nov.,mainly inhabiting the mangrove swamps,is described from eleven specimens,148-224 mm sl,collected from coastal areas of sindh,pakistan. it has been invariably confused with sparidentex hasta,also occurring in the north western indian ocean. sparidentex jamalensis sp. nov. differs from sparidentex hasta and from nominal species placed within the genus sparidentex,by the following combination of characters: body depth 37-41%,head length 33-38% caudal peduncle length 18-20% in standard length; 3 1/2 scale rows between the 5 th dorsal-fin spine base and lateral-line,3 1/2 scale rows between the 9th dorsal-fin spine base and lateral-line,second anal-fin spine distinctly stouter and longer than third spine ratio of 2nd anal-fin spine and 3rd anal-fin spine is 1.3-1.7 steep profile of snout,presence of black vivid spot at the beginning of pectoral-fin and diffused black blotch at the beginning of pored lateral-line scales,six canine teeth in both jaws,45- 47 lateral line scales,dorsal-fin rays xi,11,white pelvic-fins and grayish black anal-fin. copyright 2014 zoological society of pakistan.